


To see through you

by Zephyr (Newsboyhat)



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: Gen, Linked Universe (Legend of Zelda)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-25
Updated: 2021-02-25
Packaged: 2021-03-15 23:07:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,421
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29691318
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Newsboyhat/pseuds/Zephyr
Summary: Thanks for reading!!! <3
Comments: 2
Kudos: 26





	To see through you

The climb up to the watchtower seemed to get shorter every year. When he was 12 the climb up the ladder would feel like it lasted a century. Now 8 years later it lasted less than a minute. As he got to the top Link felt himself smile when he saw that the watchtower was still spotless from when he'd cleaned it the day before. The birds loved to camp out up here and it'd taken half a day to clean it properly. 

He sat cross legged on the wooden floor, opened up his old satchel and dug through it for the lunch he'd brought along with him. Link was pretty sure that his grandma had snuck something in the bag for him this morning along with the two lunches he packed. Pulling them both out Link paused before setting Aryll's meal next to him with a small frown. It'd been 4 years since he'd last seen her a part of him knew she wouldn't show up and knew that even if she did his sister wouldn't be able to take any of the food from him. Sighing, he undid the cloth he'd wrapped around the bread, opened his jar of stew and began eating in silence. 

Maybe he only brought along a second meal any more to make himself feel less alone. To give himself some hope that somebody else might show up. Loss always hit him hard this time of year. Sometimes he thought about the other heros if they were happy and safe. Did they ever wonder about him too?

Just as Link was about to finish his food a quiet fluttering caught his attention and he found himself staring at a seagull sitting on the railing eyeing the last bite of bread. Link smiled and without a second thought threw the piece over the edge of the watchtower, watched the small bird dive after it and fly off. His grandma would scold him for feeding the seagulls; she didn't think of them as anything more than rats with wings. But Link was fond of them; they reminded him of Legend, the veteran had a soft spot for the birds. Back when Link had still been Wind the older hero had told him how an old friend of his had adored seagulls. The veteran even had a song he would play on his ocarina just for them. A song for some reason he refused to play anywhere except the beach. Wind had often wondered if it had anything to do with the beautiful red headed spirit who only ever appeared long enough to sing with Legend as he played. 

Still hungry, Link brushed the crumbs off his hands, stored the used jar and rag back into his pack along with his sisters food. And started looking for whatever it was his grandma packed him. His food hadn't been bad but he still wasn't the best of cooks. Though admittedly his cooking skills were still leagues above what some of the other Links had been around his age. He could still painfully recall the one time Hyrule tried to cook for them. The only one of the group who could finish the dish had been Wild. But Link once saw the champion eat the charred wood left over from a campfire so he probably wasn't the best to decide on what food was edible or not. 

Link felt himself grinning as he dug through the bag and eventually found something wrapped in a cloth similar to his carefully hidden away in one of the pockets. Maybe a jar of pumpkin soup that his grandma knew always cheered him up, especially today. Once he unwrapped it though he let the cloth fall back into the bag his fond smile quickly dropped into a frown at the sight of his old telescope. The one he hadn't used for almost 7 years, the metal pieces on it were still jagged and rusting from the times he'd simply dropped it onto the ground and let it lay in the rain too numb to pick it back up. The glass on the end was shattered from where he'd once thrown it at a wall in anger. Link ran his thumb across a piece of the rusted metal the memory of when he last used it still crystal clear in his mind...

It was Wind's turn on watch. The last one of that night and he already spent most of his shift perched on a tree at the outskirts of camp watching a far off group of Wilds bokoblins dance around a campfire through his telescope. They were pretty fun to watch when they weren't trying to kill you. Eventually though the cold air was too much and with the campfire calling to him Wind closed his telescope and began making his way down from the tree. Hopping down the last branch the sailor turned on his heel heading towards the campfire and froze in place at the familiar person standing directly in front of him. 

Neither of them moved, Wind couldn't do anything but stand them dumbstruck his mind racing. Why was she here? The last letter he'd gotten from the crew had mentioned her. Said she'd gotten sick after a particularly awful storm and they'd taken her to Onset and left her there to recover. She looked fine now though confused and steadily more annoyed by the second but fine. How did she get here? Had a portal opened up on the island? Why did she-

"Link." Wind blinked, focusing his attention back on her. "Where am I?" As much as he could tell she tried to hide it he could still hear the fear beginning to creep into her voice. Out of reflex he reached out a hand to her. But the tips of his fingers barely touched her before he jerked his hand back clutching it to his chest. 

"Link."

He didn't answer and didn't look back up instead staring at his hand trying to massage out the achingly cold feeling. The realization of what he felt made him feel steadily more nauseous by the second. 

"Link!" 

The familiar sensation he'd felt like when the old man that followed Hyrule around tried to ruffle his hair or when the soldiers that followed Warrior forgot they were dead and tried to pat him on the back after a fight. The same feeling he got when he was near-

"Link!"

She was yelling so loud the others should've woken up by now but nobody was. It was like they couldn't hear her at all. Like she wasn't even there.

"Link!"

Out of desperation and denial ignoring the cold Wind reached out again to put his hand on her shoulder just like he'd done countless times before... 

His hand went right through her. 

Her image flickered and just for a moment he was able to see the campfire directly behind her. 

Her spirit vanished. 

Wind woke up the entire camp that morning screaming for his sister...

Link blinked rapidly, pushing the remnants of the memory into the back of his mind as he carefully tucked the old telescope back into his bag. He hadn't used it since that night every time he tried he broke down in grief unable to think of anything other than the beaming expression on Aryll's face when she'd given it to him on his birthday. Maybe he would start using it again, it wasn't fair really that her last gift to him had to die along with her. Tetra was already planning for the crew to stop by one of the larger islands soon where Link could hopefully get it repaired at.

Slinging the bag over his shoulder he made his way over to the ladder and started the short climb down. Just as he began to move his hands from the top rung however Link felt himself freeze. At the faint feeling of a small hand on top of his own. The hand tightened and for just a moment he felt it tugging on his hand like it was trying to pull him back up the ladder before the feeling vanished, never letting go more so just fading away. Just like it did every year. Link pressed his forehead against the wooden rung in front of him squeezing his eyes shut but not bothering to stop the tears this time. He swallowed managing to speak past the pain in his throat just enough to say. 

"Happy birthday Aryll."

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!!! <3


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